Ukraine on Sunday said it will hold talks with Russia in Belarus

New Delhi (India): Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis on Sunday, official sources said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankarr, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other senior officials were also a part of the meeting which was also attended by top government officials.

Modi presided over the meeting immediately upon his return from Uttar Pradesh, where he addressed rallies as part of the BJP's campaign for the state assembly polls.

#UPDATE| PM Narendra Modi's high-level meeting on #UkraineRussiaConflict lasted over 2 hours; the PM ensured safety & evacuation of Indian students as the top priority. Further cooperation with neighbouring countries of Ukraine to expedite evacuation will be enhanced: GoI Sources

— ANI (@ANI) February 27, 2022

India has decided to send Union Ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and Gen VK Singh to travel to neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation mission and help students, government sources said.

A large number of Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine following Russia's attack on the country. India has begun evacuating them, and over 900 people have been brought back since Saturday.

Modi has also spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, with India calling for dialogue to defuse the crisis.

On Sunday, Ukraine said that it will hold delegation-level peace talks with Russia at its border with Belarus, near the Chernobyl exclusion zone, after a phone call between Zelenskyy and Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

“All planes, helicopters, and missiles' will remain grounded from Belarus during this time,” read a statement from Zelenskyy.

The acceptance for talks came minutes after Putin ordered his defence chiefs to put the country's nuclear "deterrence forces" on high alert as he accused Western countries of taking "unfriendly" steps against his country. (With agency inputs)